The Shadow of Fate
by Mordred Dantete
Summary: Twilight Princess with a blast from the OoT past with everyone's favorite miniboss. Some possible swearing and violence.
1. Formation

**Ch 1: Formation**

It felt like every thing he had done had been for naught. He had lost track of how long it had been since he had left Ordon. Weeks? Months? And now all he had toiled for, all he had bled for and accomplished was tossed aside like so much scrap. Even worse, Zelda's sacrifice to save Midna…

Link tried to cast a covert glance at her over his shoulders, however it was very difficult with the long wolf snout. He was happy that Midna was still alive. He would have been devastated had she actually died; lost without her insight to the twilight. Yet after Zelda vanished it seemed Link's only hopes had gone too. Now they only had one chance. The sword. He padded through the forest, following the strange boy-like creature and its bizarre puppets. He could feel Midna's heels dig into his flanks whenever she felt he was not progressing fast enough. Strangely enough he was becoming accustomed to his wolf form. He was not sure to be comforted or disturbed by that.

The guardian statues had admitted them and the two of them entered the sheltered grove that served as the resting place of the legendary Master Sword. As he passed between the guardians, he could feel hope returning. The grove _felt_ good. It felt right. Like no evil could taint it. He could almost hear it whispering…

_The Master Sword! The Sword of Evil's Bane! The Sword Evil cannot touch!_

_Chosen Hero! Take it in hand! Cast down the Shadow!_

It could work. All could yet be saved. He increased his pace, trotting forward to retrieve the sword, though how he would in his wolf form, he was not quite sure. However, he stopped when he heard the whispers change from coaxing confidence, to alarm.

_You are tainted! You are tainted! Purge the darkness! Remove the Shadow!_

Tainted? Link did not even have time to register the thought before the shockwave washed over him. Midna let out a cry of alarm and her small fists instantly griped painful handfuls of his fur. It hurt, but he ignored it. The sword must have sensed Zant's curse. Link dug in and tried to press forward to claim the sword, Midna holding valiantly to his coat. One step. Link felt a pain in his head. Like a burning hot poker, yet from the inside, threatening to drive him mad. He ignored the pain, choosing to focus on Midna's brash demands of an explination, though unintelligible over the wind, he could tell she was scared and hiding it. Two steps. He heard a scream, but it was not Midna, and it clearly could not be him. But after a moment he realized that it was him. Three steps. Midna was suddenly torn from his back, tumbling out of the clearing, swearing at the top of her lungs. Four steps. He was almost there.

_The Twilight and the Darkness! The Shadow is impure! Purge them all!_

Five steps. Link felt something tear away from him, and at the same time, the screaming was silenced. Six steps. He could not go on. The pain from his head was too much. His vision blurred, his legs faltered…

The golden triangle on the back of his paw flared to life suddenly. He would not give up. He would succeed. He felt the pain suddenly leave him. The curse was suddenly blasted from him, and he stumbled to his two human feet, ready to struggle against the force from the sword. He promptly fell on his face. The grove was tranquil once more. All was silent.

_The Twilight and the Darkness, the curse has been purged._

Link stood up, strode boldly to the small altar that housed the Master sword. His hands griped the azure handle and pulled the shining white blade from its stone. He felt power surge through his arms as he held the sword up to the light. Behind him, he barely heard Midna murmur: "The sword has accepted him as its master…"

Link let his arms fall back to his sides. He felt exhausted, drained completely. He almost felt weak, but with a newfound strength from the sword in his hands. He felt like he could sleep for a week. He turned to tell Midna something along those lines in an attempt to act more confident than he felt when the air was rent with an ear piercing scream. He whirled around. It was not Midna screaming this time either. It was his voice, but not from his lungs.

On the ground at the entrance to the grove, was a dark shape, like shadows made solid. Even as he watched, more darkness gathered and formed to the figure. Even dark squares he had only seen from twilight were being absorbed, much in the way Link had seen the Fused Shadows form. When the transformation stopped, the complete solid form was visible for a mere instant, but it was more than enough for Link to recognize it. How could he not recognize it?

The figure was him. It was him made of darkness and twilight, with glowing red eyes. For an instant the figure was solid, then dark smoke began to boil off of it and it screamed again with Link's voice, though it sounded very far away, distorted as if under water. The figure, the Shadow Link forced himself to one knee, his blood red eyes scanning vacantly.

"_Where am I?"_ he shouted. His gaze flitted around, grazing over Midna for a moment before resting on Link. "_Who are you?"_ He held out his hands and looked down at himself. Though he was only a solid black form, it was obvious that his form was identical to Link's. "_Who am I?"_ His form wavered, and even more smoke began to pour off of him, he seemed to grow less solid, less substantial with each question. He forced himself to his feet and wavered again. "_Who am I?!" _he demanded again.

Link was stunned. He looked to Midna for some explanation but she looked just as dumb struck as he felt. She looked like she fought, but failed to suppress, the urge to point at the dark and smoking, figure. "He's you!"

Link started to respond but was cut short again. "_I'm you? But…"_ The figure looked down at himself again and wavered even more this time. "_I'm… a… Shadow…"_ The figure wavered yet again, seeming on the verge of vanishing entirely when Link heard a whisper from the Master Sword in his grasp.

_It is a Shadow of the Hero's radiance. A ghost of a time best forgotten…_

The Shadow Link looked up; Link guessed it must have heard it too. The shadow wavered again, then there was an explosion, much like the one Link had felt before from the Master Sword, but this time everything went black and he heard his Shadow scream "_NO!"_

As suddenly as it had come, the darkness was gone. The Shadow Link stood firm. His form no longer wavering and only the slightest tendrils of smoke seeped from his body. His body and clothes also had gained definition; he was no longer a purely black shape. Strapped to his back was an empty scabbard, no sword nor shield was in his grasp, yet Link tightened his grip on the Master Sword anyway. He felt it distinctly. The hatred and desire to kill, radiating from his shadow self.

The Shadow Link stalked forward. "_I am ME! I am my own being!"_ He raised his hand and with a "flash" of darkness and the roar of gathering twilight, he held a sword, identical to the Master Sword, but with a bright red hilt and dark steel blade. Link was so shocked; he almost forgot to raise his shield to block the strike.

The shock held him back for several seconds. Within that time he had nearly died four times, just managing to raise his shield, or use his sword to deflect the attack at the very last instant. Finally, as the latest strike neared, Link heard Midna scream. Coming to his senses, link bashed his shield forward, forcing his shadow self back on his heels and slashing down with the deceptively light Master Sword. The shadow's red eyes widened, and he raised his right arm as if to ward off the blow, but with no shield one arm could barely hope to slow down the attack. The fight was over.

But the Master Sword stopped dead, held fast by the shield that had materialized on Shadow Link's arm. Link hopped back. That was not fair. But at least now they were on even footing. The two of them squared off, and circled one another very slowly. Link could feel the shadow's eyes piercing into his own, as if reading the depths of his soul. His legs were heavy. He had been tired when he had reached the grove, and with the Master Sword's defensive purging of both the curse and this shadow had left him ready to drop. Link's only comfort was in watching the smoke continuing to rise in ever increasing amounts from his shadow. The Shadow Link also mirrored his ragged breathing but would not back down.

There was a small crack, followed by a roar. Both Links turned in time to see a familiar orange bolt of energy surge forward and strike the Shadow Link in the side, launching him into the air to land in a heap near the entrance to the grove. Midna hovered forward next to Link.

"That's enough! I don't know who you are or where you came from, but you better run if you know what's good for you!" Midna folded her arms across her chest and smiled smugly. The Shadow Link struggled to his feet, smoke more obviously seeping off of him once more. "_And why is that?"_ he demanded, but Midna merely pointed behind him. The Shadow Link turned in time to see the guardians of the grove come to life once again.

"Darkness! Destroy the darkness!" The guardians hefted their spears and began advancing on the shadow. The Shadow Link turned from the guardians, to Midna, then to Link. "_This isn't over!"_ he shouted, then vanished, much the same way Midna did when she teleported through the twilight. As soon as he was gone the guardians returned to their post and became lifeless statues once more.

Midna floated forward a little more and "harrumph"ed. "What in the hell was that Link?" She tossed her hair irritably when he did not reply. "Link?" She turned in time to watch him collapse. "Link!"


	2. History

**Ch 2: History**

Impossible. He was growing weaker by the second. His resolve was diminishing, and with it he could feel himself beginning to dissolve again.

It hurt. It hurt bad.

Looking across he could see that his reflection at least also appeared to be in pain. This pleased him. But he still was not sure if he could win.

There was a new searing pain as a stream of smoke rose from him before he purged the thought from his head. He would win. He would kill this thing that looked like him, that dared call him a shadow.

He heard a small crack and turned to look. The little imp thing he had dismissed at a glance had done something and now a bolt of energy was rushing his way. His red eyes widened as he realized he had no time to get out of the way. The bolt struck him in the side and launched him into the air. Tendrils of energy coursed through his body and threatened to rend its already unstable solidity to pieces. Somehow he held himself together and started to pull himself up, leaning on his sword.

"That's enough! I don't know who you are or where you came from, but you better run if you know what's good for you!" The little imp folded her arms across her chest and smiled smugly.

Struggling to stay upright, feeling himself dissolving, he looked up to the little thing floating next to his reflection. "_And why is that?"_ he demanded, but the thing just pointed at him. No, not at him, behind him. He turned just in time to see the guardian statues activate and start to move toward him, shouting about destroying the darkness. He turned from the guardians to the imp, then to his reflection. Hatred boiled up within him, he would kill this thing that called him a shadow, but right now he could not.

"_This isn't over!"_ he shouted at them, willing himself away, somewhere safe. He was not sure how, but instinct drove him and he felt himself being torn apart in a controlled sort of way. It frightened him but he knew it was the only way. Moments later he was tumbling through darkness as a hundred pieces. He did not know where he was, and he did not know where he was going. Despair started to rise again in him and he felt the formation of his pieces grow more scattered in the never-ending darkness around him. A few agonizing moments later, he felt a presence. A huge, dark presence. Fear drew his pieces back into a tight group as he felt himself drawn toward the presence by an unknown force. The presence spoke, a deep, booming voice that vibrated within his every shattered piece.

"Ahhh… Interesting… It has been a long time. Come here so we can talk…"

He felt himself pulled back out of the darkness. The pieces flew down and gradually reformed into one solid mass. It took a moment, but the smoke began to boil off of him again as he looked around, trying to take stock of his surroundings.

He was in a church. No. A temple? No. Looking around again he recognized the room. A throne room. Hard tile floor lined with carved pillars led up to a dais upon which was set a large white throne. Above the throne was a massive statue, showing three women holding a golden triangle, made of three smaller triangles. Seated in the throne was a large man wearing dark armor. His bearded chin was in his hand and his crimson eyes stared down at the Shadow. The large man sat up slightly as he noticed the Shadow's gaze fall on him and smiled a wicked looking smile.

"Welcome to my kingdom. It is interesting to see you again as I did not summon you this time. But I supposed I should consider this good fortune that you have come."

The Shadow took a wary step forward; red eyes narrowed. "_You know me_?"

The dark man laughed. "Know you? I created you, long, long ago."

The shadow took an involuntary step back. Smoke continuing to boil off him. "_You… created me? When? Why_?"

"Of course I created you. Many centuries ago. Your purpose was to destroy the hero. But you failed. Many, many years later I summoned you again, but you failed again. And now you are here again…"

The Shadow did not know what to think. If he was created centuries ago, why was he here now? Did that mean he was not real if this man had truly created him? Why could he not remember anything from before? Further more, who was this man? What hero? However, he pushed those questions aside to ask the most important one.

"_If you created me, what is my name?"_

The dark man laughed again. "Name? You don't have a name. You are just the Anti-Hero, designed solely to kill the one chosen by the gods to stop me."

More smoke began to boil off him. "_I have… No name?"_

"None. But now that you are here you may serve me once again."

The Shadow stood straighter, trying to stem the flow of smoke pouring off of him, and managing to lessen it slightly. "_I serve no one. I am my own entity."_

The dark man began to chuckle. And unlike the previous single barked laughs, this was a slow, deep laugh that filled the room. The Shadow would have felt a chill were he capable of it. It was a deep and purely evil laugh. Eventually, he stopped, and spoke quietly, though still clearly heard. "You don't understand." Then he was gone, simply gone from the throne. The Shadow heard a single heavy footfall behind him and whirled around just in time to see the dark purple light form in the palm of the dark man's outstretched hand. There was a loud bang and pain shot through the Shadow's body. He felt himself leave the ground and flew back several feet to crash into the statues above the throne with such force to break a piece off one of them. He fell to the ground and struggled to hold himself together, smoke billowing off of him more than ever before, threatening to dissolve him. He forced himself up on one knee and looked up at the dark man standing easily in the center of the room, smirking at him. The Shadow reached behind him and grabbed the handle of his sword. Without warning he rushed forward, drawing his sword and leaping into the air for a powerful overhead attack.

The dark man reached out and grabbed the blade of the sword with one hand and held it fast.

The Shadow's eyes widened. How could he hold the blade with his bare hand? He tried pushing harder but the dark man gave a jerk and pulled the Shadow closer, sneering.

"Perhaps you have forgotten," he said evenly. "I am Ganon. King of Darkness. God of Twilight. And now, Ruler of Hyrule. You will serve me, or you will die. What is your answer?"

"_Go to Hell."_

Ganon grinned. "Surely you must realize what I can see just by looking at you. You are made of darkness and for some reason, fused with twilight. I have dominion over your very essence." As he spoke, power surged through the sword and into the shadow, causing searing pain, forcing him to his knees. Ganon brought back one metal booted foot and kicked the Shadow hard, launching him once more across the throne room, tearing the sword from his grasp. As the Shadow struggled to pull himself up once more, Ganon flexed his grip and squeezed the sword, which burst into black smoke and dozens of pieces of twilight, which all were sucked toward the Shadow, to reform into his sword inside the scabbard on his back. "I'll ask you again. Will you serve, or will you die?"

The Shadow stared at Ganon, red eyes filled with hate. "_I… Will serve…"_

"Good." Ganon started to walk back to the throne. "Now stand up. I have work for you."

The Shadow, Anti, pushed himself up, the smoke trailing off him lessening slightly. "_Yes Sir…"_


	3. Plans

_AN: Been a long time since my last installment. Sorry about that. I hope to get the rest up in a more timely fashion (yeah right. We can all hope though right?)._

**Ch 3: Plans**

A figure, shrouded in a dusty brown cloak, wandered through Hyrule Castle Town's market. The afternoon was wearing to a close and most vendors were locking up their stalls, making haste to get inside before sunset; an unusual haste for such a normally busy marketplace. However, only a few days before, there had been a curfew imposed upon the town.

"All business must be concluded my sundown, under pain of imprisonment." Is how the signs read.

What was strange was that the curfew applied to the Hyrule soldiers, as well as the common folk. As to what happened after nightfall, or what patrolled the streets when the soldiers left, no one really knew. Those brave enough to look out their windows could only see dark shapes and felt the overwhelming urge to shut the curtains.

The figure began making its way down the street, stopping at one stall to make a purchase. The shop keeper quickly snatched up the rupees before covering the stall and hurrying off to his home.

The figure watched him go, then started off again, mostly unconcerned. The figure continued on, pausing at a corner to look at a wanted poster. "Wanted: Link, for threatening the peace of the kingdom" it read. Moving on, it turned down a side street, down some stairs into a small square courtyard, and approached a door set into a recess in the wall. It knocked, then passed through the door, marked "Telma's Place."

The bar was mostly empty; populated only by a small group at the back, and Telma behind the bar, and, of course, Telma's fluffy white cat. The few people who were inside the bar looked up defensively, though when they saw who it was, the group in the back relaxed, and resumed what they had been doing. Telma smiled, and waved to the newcomer.

"Welcome back dear! You're cutting it close you know." She put her hands on her hips and tried to look sternly at the figure. She failed. "You made us worry Link."

Link pulled back the hood of the cloak and shook out his golden hair. Unfortunately for him, the vigorous shaking caused some of the dust to come loose, causing him to sneeze. He had arrived in the courtyard outside the bar a week earlier, after his fight with the shadow in the sacred grove. He remembered nothing after the battle. He had learned later that Midna had teleported them both to Telma's bar, the safest place she could think of to get care for him. When questioned, she had made snide comments about needing him to fight Zant, but Link knew well enough that he had worried her. He had been plenty scared himself.

Telma laughed. "I know that thing is old, but it's all I have to hid your face from the guards. Did you manage to get my package?"

Link nodded, and held up a small bag and placed it on the bar in front of Telma. Telma smiled and made a cooing noise. "Oh thank you dearie, you're such a big help around here."

A young woman from the back of the bar spoke up. "Well at least the new guy is good for something, yeah?" She continued looking as standoffish as ever, but it was clear she was quite happy to see him back. Link looked back to Ashei, still smiling. The other two men at the table with her chuckled, Shad adjusted his glasses and pulling out another of his dozens of books from his bag, and the other man smiled in a fatherly sort of way that confused Link profoundly. The swordsman never spoke, nor did he even carry a sword, but it was unmistakable that he was a swordsman by the way he carried himself.

The others seemed to want to speak with him about something, but Link quickly excused himself and hurried upstairs to the room assigned to him of the few that were available. Link had somehow managed to have the room to himself; which was very fortunate. He hurried up the stairs and into his room, quickly closing and locking the door behind him. It was a very small room. Square, with a window opposite the door, the bed was placed along the wall under the window. On the right side was a small fire place with a chair nearby, and along the left wall was a small dresser.

The very instant the door was closed, link heard the familiar chime as Midna all but shot out of his shadow, gasping in air as if she had been holding her breath for far too long.

"Eeeaahhhhh!" she half sighed, half shouted, darting around the room. "Finally, I can move!"

Link chuckled and removed the dusty cloak from his shoulders. He still wore his tunic, though his hat was tucked into his belt and he had set the Master Sword to hang at his side instead of on his back, as not to be seen under the cloak. Likewise, he did not have his shield, it sat propped against the foot of the bed.

"Don't get me wrong link, the view from you shadow is nice, but it's kind of cramped." Midna hovered near the window, arms and legs crossed as if sitting in a chair, grinning at him.

Link shot her a look, pulling the hat from his belt and putting it back on, then carefully unbuckling the Master Sword from his belt and leaning it against the wall near his shield. He turned to smile at Midna as he reached for the door.

"Going down to see what they wanted?" she asked. Link nodded.

Midna huffed. "Fine, but don't be long."

Link chuckled and slipped out of the room and back down into the bar proper. Telma had just locked the door and was starting to head back to the others.

"Ah, there you are dear. We were hoping you would come back down."

Ashei pounded her fist on the table. "Yeah, let's get down to business."

Shad looked up from behind his book. "Let's talk about that mirror you told us about…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The silence was infuriating.

He demanded he stay, and yet said nothing.

He just sat there.

His bearded chin on his fist, staring.

Staring at nothing at all.

Anti clenched and unclenched his fists. He kept trying to focus on limiting the smoke from billowing off of him, dissolving his body, and not on his anger or frustration.

Trying not to focus on the extreme hatred he held for this man.

Anti wanted nothing more than to cut off that man's head. However, he knew he could not. That much had been made abundantly clear to him.

Anti had been trying desperately to come to terms with the last week. It was difficult. His arrival, or was it awakening, he was not sure; his body that was held together solely by his will power… And his double. His very bright and perfect double.

And also his service to the man on the throne. A man Anti hated almost as much as his double. The dark lord, Ganon.

Anti was so lost in his own mind that he was badly startled when Ganon actually spoke.

"He will try to find the mirror."

Anti stared up at him. He had not moved at all, and it might have been a figment of his imagination that Ganon had actually spoken. Anti would have dismissed it as such had Ganon not spoke again while he was watching.

"He does not know of me yet, so he will try to find the mirror."

Anti opened his mouth to ask what Ganon was talking about, but he closed it quickly. He already knew who he was referring to, and what the mirror was. He even knew where it was.

Ganon continued, still ignoring Anti. "All they know is Zant. So they will use the mirror to gain access to him. The fool thinks himself protected and leaves it all but untouched by his men. He deserves what comes to him for his foolishness."

Ganon leaned back in his throne and rested his hands on the arms. "Still…" He looked down to Anti, standing beside the dais. "That is what you are for."

Anti glared up at him. "_Do you have orders for me?_" he demanded.

"Send a patrol to search for him through the city. You know what he will do when he finds out?"

Somehow, Anti did know. He knew exactly what Link would do. "_He will leave as soon as he can. Get out of the city to avoid having others hurt. Still, he can't get there without help. There are others with him. At least in the background if he does not take any with him directly._"

"Excellent. Send the patrol, go with it if you so choose. Then wait for him in the desert. Take some bulbins with you to the Arbiter's Grounds."

Anti resented how casually Ganon ordered him to go. Yet there was nothing he could do. For one made of darkness, the Dark King of Evil held power over you whether you liked it or not.

"_The bulbins will not be as highly effective as some of the other soldiers."_ Anti pointed out.

Ganon waved his hand absently, obviously uncaring. This only caused Anti's fury to rise. Still he fought to control himself.

"_Yes sir._" Anti bowed and left the throne room to find the troops to send on the patrol.


	4. Challenge

**Ch: 4 Challenge**

Shad closed his book. "So it's decided then."

Link nodded, drinking the last of his cup of juice and leaning back in his chair. They had just finished their discussion about their next move in the defense of Hyrule. Link needed to find the mirror to enter the Twilight and fight Zant there. He had not told them everything of course, but enough to get him where he needed to go.

Telma slowly nodded. "You are sure you want to leave the day after tomorrow? It will take some time to get the supplies you'll want to go into the desert."

Ashei pounded the table from where she was leaning over it. "Yeah. I can get you the supplies but we'll all be busy tomorrow if we want to sneak you out the next day. And are you sure you don't want one of us to go with you?" She stared evenly at Link, the way she had said "one of us" she clearly had meant "me."

Link smiled back at her and shook his head. He had already given them reasons why he needed to go alone. They had partially been lies. He naturally could not tell them of Midna and Zant's curse. Also, he was sure Midna would not take kindly to extra company.

Ashei continued to stare at him for a few moments, the others looking on. Finally she sighed and said, "Alright, we'll get you set up and hold down the fort here, yeah?"

The older swordsman nodded and grinned at Link, staying as silent as always.

Telma smiled and took Link's cup and started back toward the bar. "I've already sent a letter to Auru, so he will be expecting you at the watch tower above the Lake. He will get you into the desert."

Link nodded, then suddenly yawned.

Telma paused, being on the brink of refilling Links cup. "You've had a long day haven't you dear?" Link nodded again, rubbing his eyes as Telma looked over at the clock. "Oh my, we've been talking for three hours. You should get upstairs and get some sleep Link dear. We'll finish up down here."

The other three agreed, wishing Link good night as he stood and started up the stairs. He turned back, they were all huddled over the large map spread over the back table talking in hushed tones. They were dedicated. He was glad he had met them. He was sure he would not be able to complete his quest without them.

He tread up the stairs and down the hall as quietly as he could. Cracking open his door slowly and squeezing inside. Midna was curled up hovering slightly off the surface of the chair she had claimed as her bed after a lengthy argument where she had wanted the full sized one instead. She had eventually caved and allowed Link to have it, taking the armchair near the fireplace.

As Link closed the door behind him she looked up blearily. "Well it's about time." She muttered.

Link nodded, not bothering removing his gloves or the chain shirt beneath his tunic before he collapsed on his bed and closed his eyes, already starting to drift off. Off in the distance he heard Midna mutter, already well on the way to slumber herself, "Goodnight Link…"

Downstairs the others were just preparing to head up themselves. Shad was packing away his books. Telma was behind the bar. Ashei was standing by the map with her arms crossed over her chest looking irritated. The swordsman was almost to the stairs when Ashei spoke.

"I still think one of us should go with him."

Telma laughed. "You really want to go with him don't you dear?"

Ashei dropped her arms to her sides and sounded defensive. "Well there's a better chance of success if two go! And I know more about the desert than him."

Shad looked up from his bag. "Not particularly, you've never actually been there either."

Ashei shot him a venomous look but Shad just grinned. The swordsman on the stairs laughed.

"He has his reasons to go alone dear." Telma said trying to calm the fiery young woman down.

"But most of them are clearly lies!"

Telma laughed. "It's true. Link is a terrible liar. He's far too sweet. But it's obvious that if he was lying about it then he has an even better reason for not wanting us to go. He just can't tell us," she looked up at the swordsman at the foot of the stairs. "Isn't that right?"

The swordsman nodded. "Link would never lie unless he had a very good reason," he turned to Ashei. "Just let him be. He will be fine. You'll see," he grinned. "Yeah?"

Ashei looked back and forth between Telma, Shad, and the swordsman before finally throwing her hands up in the air. "Fine! Yeah!"

The others chuckled and continued preparing to go up to their rooms.

There was a pounding on the door.

Everyone froze. Motionless and silent.

The pounding came again. This time there was a noise along with it. And it was not a human noise.

It was the sound of a monster.

Telma began reaching behind the bar, eyes glued to the door.

It burst open with the next bashing and a large black shape stood in the doorway and roared an ear piercing howl causing the four inside to reflexively cover their ears. The creature moved inside followed by another, and yet another. The swordsman shouted up the stairs "Raid!" before rushing forward to meet the first creature. It swiped its oversized forearm at him but he easily dodged and smashed his fist into its mask, immediately wishing he had not. The thing's mask was hard as stone.

Telma pulled a short sword from behind the bar and held it up. "Ashei!" She shouted, tossing the sword to the young warrior woman. Ashei caught the sword and drew it from the scabbard, holding the scabbard in her left hand like a club she rushed forward to try and block the door, but she was faced with two of the creatures and was forced back on the defensive.

Shad glanced between the attackers and his friends. He was not a fighter like the others, but he was not helpless either. He reached inside his bag and pulled a small hand crossbow. From a second pouch he pulled a tiny red bolt and fitted it in place. He took a moment aiming, and fired. The bolt sailed high so as not to hit his friends and struck one of the creatures fighting Ashei high on the shoulder. There was a crack and flash of light as the bolt exploded. The creature howled and rocked back in pain, giving Ashei an opening on the other one, darting in and plunging her sword into its gut. However, the injured creature swiped at her with its good arm, causing her to let go of her sword and stagger back, trip, and fall to the floor.

Upstairs Link had stirred in his slumber from the pounding on the door. The breaking of the door and the creatures roar had woken him but he was not entirely sure if he was really awake or dreaming. However, the shout of "Raid" from downstairs got him sitting bolt upright. Midna had heard it too and was already moving toward the door.

"Do you think they are after us?" She asked.

Link did not answer, he snatched up the Master Sword, leaving its scabbard upstairs and sprinted down the hall, taking the stairs three at a time on the way down, almost falling, Midna close behind, trying to dive into his shadow on the fly.

By the time he reached the bar common, Shad had fired a second bolt, finishing the creature he had previously injured. The other swordsman had somehow overpowered his creature and smashed it to the ground, but another was on its way to him. Telma had produced another sword from behind the bar and was trying to find a way to get it to someone. Ashei was on her back, trying to push herself back from another of the creatures that hand rushed in over its fallen comrades toward the vulnerable woman.

Link tightened his grip on the Master Sword. Enraged that his friends had come under attack by the forces he was supposed to be stopping. Without thinking he sprinted forward, first moving to stand over Ashei, his sword held in both hands. The creature hesitated for a second; then swiped a clawed arm at Link. Link calmly cut the arm off, then pulled his sword back and high, bringing it down with both hands, cleaving the creatures mask almost in half with one swing.

Not having time to stop, Link moved forward over the fallen shadow beasts. The other swordsman was grappling with his second opponent, though it looked as though he was being forced down to a knee. Link ran forward, though was stopped by the one the swordsman had forced down initially. Having forgotten that that one was not dead, Link was caught off guard and received a short, but unbelievably strong punch to the gut. His breath was blasted from his chest and he staggered back into the bar, gasping for air. The creature came on, fists raised to crush him when something flashed past Link's ear. The creature howled and staggered back, a dagger protruding from its mask. Knowing better than to ask questions, Link promptly cut it down. Then he glanced behind him to see Telma behind the bar holding another dagger. She winked at him.

Ashei had gotten up and rushed to the swordsman's aid. She circled around behind the last of the creatures and jabbed the point of the scabbard into its spine. She could not penetrate its thick black skin with just the wooden scabbard, but it obviously hurt the creature as it stiffened and cried out. The swordsman took the opportunity to break out of the grapple and punch the creature in the throat, then quickly ducking aside. That gave Shad the clear shot he needed, hitting the creature square in the chest. The exploding bolt blasted the creature back to crash to the floor, quite lifeless.

The five of them looked around. No more attackers loomed up at them, and even as they watched the five creatures they had slain began to dissolve into a thing dark mist. Ashei quickly rolled one over to retrieve her sword and started stalking toward the door. Link quickly rushed forward and grabbed her arm. When she turned, questioningly, and rather angry with the whole ordeal, Link simply shook his head, pulling her back and moving forward himself. Ashei looked uncertain, but stayed put and let him go first.

Link stood in the doorway and looked out into the night. A dark shape stood at the top of the stairs outside the recess to Telma's door. A dark shape with red glowing eyes.

Link singled for the others to stay put before slowly starting to climb the stairs.

Anti stood waiting for him. His sword and shield still strapped to his back, his arms folded over his chest.

"_Not bad. I have to say I did not expect all of your friends to make it as unscathed as they did."_

Link stood firm, gripping his sword tightly. Midna shifted nervously hidden inside Link's shadow.

"_I just want you to know that I'll be waiting for you at the Arbiter's Grounds. And I expect you very soon. We'll have our battle there. If you don't come soon enough to my liking, I'll have to come back here and make a mess of all your little friends…"_

Link lunged forward, slashing to cut his shadow self in half, but Anti phased out, splitting into a hundred shards and teleporting away. Link could still hear his voice in the air around him.

"_That wasn't very nice. I'll take a day off your time limit for that."_

Link stared up into the sky, as if he might catch some sign of his shadow self. Midna slowly rose out of his shadow to hover beside him.

"So there goes the plan, huh?"

Link looked down at her. They were going to be leaving a bit ahead of schedule.

Right now sounded pretty good to him.


	5. Flight

_AN: Contrary to popular belief, I'm not dead. Here's hoping for much more to come._

**Chapter 5: Flight**

"You're leaving now?!" Ashei was incredulous.

Link did not answer her, he simply pushed past and up the stairs. He knew he was going to regret this as soon as he calmed down and the adrenaline wore off.

Shad stood in the middle of the bar's main room, staring at the floor where the shadow beasts had all but completely dissolved into thin air. "What were those things?"

Telma and the swordsman were trying to reattach the door to its frame. Telma took a step back as it popped back into a position similar to how it used to be. "Shadow Beasts," she said turning around.

Link could sense Midna's discomfort as he hurried about the bar, stuffing whatever supplies he could find into a large satchel he had taken from Shad after dumping its load of books onto the map room table. He couldn't stay and let the others be put at risk of a larger attack. He knew what it meant for him to keep them out of harm and he did not care. He could tell Midna knew too, and he could tell it was taking all of her self control to not leap out of his shadow and berate him. Though fortunately for her, Ashei did it for her.

"It's got to be a trap!" Ashei said angrily. "You can't just go run off; they're probably waiting for you!"

Link paused and looked up at her steadily.

Ashei stared back at him. "You know that already…"

Telma started forward. "Now Ashei don't start this again. It was probably a trap even before those things showed up. Link was always going into that alone."

Ashei looked furious, and for a moment, Link thought she looked scared. The moment quickly passed however and she was angry again. However, before she had a chance to be angry, link threw the old dusty cloak around himself, secured the satchel over his shoulder and hurried toward the door.

The Swordsman held the door on its hinges for Link as he passed through, and Shad held Ashei back from following as the Swordsman secured the door once more. Only after the door was firmly secured did Shad let the fiery young woman go, though she had stopped resisting as soon as the door had shut, and had since stood there, thoroughly defeated.

The Swordsman smiled gently at her and placed his hand on her shoulder. "He'll be alright. I didn't teach him to lose, and he's getting stronger all the time. There will be plenty for you to do around here while he's gone. Yeah?"

She just stared at him. "I hope so."

Midna said nothing as Link entered the stables and mounted up. Epona was clearly displeased about being taken out at such an odd hour, but she did as her master wished, as she always did. Link was almost halfway out of the stable before he noticed that Midna was not with him. He reined Epona to a halt and turned back to her confused.

Midna was hovering back in Epona's stall, staring at the wall, a highly distant look on her face. Slowly she turned to meet his gaze, and seeing the concern in his eyes she quickly looked away and rapidly melted back into his shadow without a word.

Link was about to say something to her when he heard the growl of more shadow beasts. After a quick priority adjustment, putting survival back on top, the three bolted out of the stables, and quickly were out of the city and on their way to Lake Hylia to meet Auru and find his way into the desert.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Anti arrived at the camp at the Arbiter's Grounds only moments after leaving Castle town. He was genuinely surprised to find an entire battalion of bulbins already on site and already having constructed a fortress of sorts outside of the prison. Ganon had already known about this place long before Anti had even arrived and had just sent him there because he could. Rage boiled up inside Anti yet again and he lashed out at the bulbin worker who approached him to ask for his clearance or some trivial thing, killing it instantly. Anti stormed off in search of the leader of the camp so he could hopefully kill him and take over himself.


End file.
